Iron Kingdoms

From the focus on alt-history to the over-the-top gears-and-lightning fantastical, steampunk remains a compelling and entertaining genre that gains much of its life in the tabletop RPG world. As the company named for one of steampunk's greatest inspirations launches a car into space, it seemed like an apt time to take a look at some of the great genre offerings.
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The folks over at Feedspot have placed EN World in the Top 100 RPG Blogs on the web. In fact, this site came in second, just after a site about RPG video games. The list contains a mix of tabletop and video game RPGs. It's always nice when somebody notices the work you're doing, so thank you to the Feedspot crew. You should head over there and check out the others on that list. &nbsp...READ MORE

Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news. The game industry mourns the loss of one of its own, Eclipse gets a second edition, Privateer Press has a new miniature line, lots of RPG-related Humble Bundles and charity news, and more!

Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news. An incident at PaizoCon prompts responses from several game companies, Dungeon Tiles are coming back, WizKids will be playing in the Warhammer 40k sandbox, Fantasy Flight announces a new video game development studio, Saving Throw having a charity marathon, and a lot more!

A rundown of the New Releases that should be hitting games stores this coming week! Board games, card games, RPGs, Wargames, Miniatures and collectible games... hopefully something for everyone! In addition to the games hitting your local store we’re also now listing a few RPG PDF releases from the last week that we hope may be of interest. For more information about any of the physical products please contact your local games store.

A rundown of the New Releases that should be hitting games stores this coming week! Board games, card games, RPGs, Miniatures and collectible games... hopefully something for everyone! In addition to these we're also now including a 'PDF Spotlight', looking at a few RPG PDF releases from the last week that we hope may be of interest. For more information about any of the physical products please contact your local games store.

Fantasy Grounds has sent along its latest usage stat for 2016, showing which games folks are playing on its platform. As usual, 5E is out way ahead with a whopping 57% share, followed by Pathfinder. Then come Savage Worlds and D&D 3.5, followed by D&D 4E - essentially several versions of D&D, plus Savage Worlds hold the top five spots. Other notable contenders include FFG's Star Wars, Call of Cthulhu, Iron Kingdows, and Rolemaster Classic. In the below charts, "Core RPG" is Fantasy Ground's default core module which allows you to play a range of different games, rather than one of the specific packages.

ICv2 has just released its hobby game rankings for Spring 2015, based as always on a survey of retailers, distributors, and manufacturers. The top three positions are exactly the same as the previous Fall/Holiday 2014 positions - D&D followed by Pathfinder, followed by FFG's Star Wars line of products. Following that, Numenera and Fate have been displaced by Shadowrun and Iron Kingdoms (the latter presumably based on Privateer Press' recent, highly promoted Iron Kingdoms Unleashed boxed set). As always, I've added this latest ranking to my compiled chart.
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Today, I have another preview from the (now recently released) Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Adventurer Kit from Privateer Press. The Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Adventure Kit introduces the harnesser arcane tradition through the nefarious (and probably mentally unhinged) Warlord Morrg. The ability to command his two warbeasts gives Morrg the authority he needs to keep his warband of farrow in line—and that ability is entirely thanks to the harnesser tradition.
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Usually I take a new look at Privater's Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Adventurer Kit each week on Fridays. I have a bonus look at bonegrinders today, though. We’ve talked a bit about bone grinders, one of the new Iron Kingdoms Unleashed careers available in the new Unleashed Adventure Kit. Bone grinders are a versatile Gifted career able to perform the messy wilderness version of alchemy.
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I continue my weekly look at Privateer's Iron Kingdoms Unleashed, this time with a fiction vignette entitled Longchops. The next fiction vignette explores a question many of you might have: where exactly did that gator get his giant gun? Longchops has been infatuated with the accouterments of mankind for years by the time the Hogwash scenario in the Unleashed Adventure Kit begins, but once he was a simple gatorman living in the Widower’s Wood, preying on unfortunate travelers who wandered too far off the path.
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This week's exclusive preview of Iron Kingdom's Unleashed, courtesy of Privateer Press, looks at Monster Hunters. Their name says it all. They are the men and women (and bog trogs, farrow, gatormen, et cetera) who strike out into the territories of the biggest, meanest, and most dangerous creatures in western Immoren hoping to bag a few trophies. They are experts at tracking down and eliminating the deadly wildlife of western Immoren, and they possess a number of talents that make them excel at the task.
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Last time we talked about Zocha’s careers and what she can do, so for this installment of Fridays Unleashed we’ll focus on who she is, what’s driving her, and what she can become. The following piece of new short fiction gives you a brief glimpse into the backstory of Zocha the Outcast.
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Over the last few weeks, I've shared some previews of Privateer Press' Iron Kingdoms Unleashed boxed set. Today we are taking a closer look at one of the careers new to Unleashed, the Bloodweaver. Bloodweavers are a special group of Gifted characters who use their sacral blades to perform powerful magical attacks. This blood magic is a kind of sacrificial ritual that allows the Bloodweaver to invoke the awesome power of the Devourer Wurm.

In past previews of Privateer' Press' Iron Kingdoms Unleashed, I've looked at the miniatures and components. Now it's time to turn attention to to some of what’s between the pages—the heart of the Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Roleplaying Game. The pregenerated player characters in the Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Adventure Kit are members of the Unlikely Heroes Adventuring Company. Adventuring companies are a way to build cohesive groups of characters with a common goal or purpose. Unlikely Heroes is a sort of catchall adventuring company that any character can be a part of, united by the need to overcome a threat to themselves, their tribes, or even a whole region. Every adventuring company provides certain benefits to characters who make up its members. Typically the leader of the company gains an extra benefit for assuming the mantle of leadership.

Last week, we took a good look at the plastic figures included in Privateer Press' Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Adventure Kit box. Now they’ve got to have somewhere to explore and fight! That’s where the map tiles and tokens come in. The Adventure Kit comes with nine double-sided map tiles and 28 double-sided map tokens to allow for a host of different possible scenarios. Here’s an example of one of the encounter setups.
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Privateer Press has sent along some information about the Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Adventure Kit. It will be available in stores everywhere in March 2015 and is "a complete adventure, including everything you need to play as a fierce warrior in the savage and untamed wilds of western Immoren". A starter set for four players and a GM. &nbsp...READ MORE

No big surprises here. Star Wars from FFG has entered the list, the #5 spot has been alternating between one of two or three items for the last year or two, and the #1 and #2 spots have been the same for a couple of years. I'm not sure how D&D is in the list given that WotC hasn't been producing D&D for 18 months - I'm guessing this must be reprints and tail-end 4E stock (it says RPGs, not boardgames, toys etc.), but I confess I'm far from an expert. [threadcm]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?339679-Top-5-RPGs-Spring-2013[/threadcm]
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Reviews

Wizards of the Coast is promoting Ghosts of Saltmarsh as an adventure book with a setting and rule supplements so since I already did a spoiler-free review of the book overall, let's take a closer look at the adventures it contains. While I avoid significant spoilers, be aware that broad information about each adventure is mentioned.

The Shadowrun Sixth World Beginner Box due for release at Origins this June will be our first look at the new edition of the now 30-year-old Shadowrun game system. This new edition promises to be a more streamlined experience for new players while still satisfying veterans, but does it live up to that promise?

Ghosts of Saltmarsh will make Greyhawk fans happy without losing newer D&D 5th Edition players. Billed as a supplement for nautical adventures, it's a mix of new rules for ships and sea travel, adventures and supplemental material for any coastal campaign.

Sequels can be a tricky thing to handle, especially when they promise a darker, edgier tone. Despite its much gloomier tone, however, Things from the Flood manages to avoid difficult-second-album syndrome with a game that neatly blends weird sci-fi mysteries and teenage drama, though sometimes it’s hard to tell which aspect is the most dangerous and unsettling.

Gangs kill and terrorize Victory City overwhelming law and order. Super villains run amok. Become a vigilante and strike back using violence to fight violence in the dark setting nicknamed Vigilante City.